Everett Norwegian Male Chorus
Everett, WA

Rehearsals

The Everett Norwegian Male Chorus rehearses every Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:30 pm from September to June.

We meet at:

More Information

Are you interested in learning more about the Everett Norwegian Male Chorus? Do you want to sing with a male chorus? For information about the Everett Norwegian Male Chorus, please contact our chorus president, Gary Strombo, at

Performances

The Everett Norwegian Male Chorus performs regularly as part of the cultural programming at Normanna Lodge, Sons of Norway, in Everett and at other local Lodges upon request. Other performance venues include senior/retirement centers and local churches. During the autumn season, the chorus prepares a program of Christmas holiday music and joins other member choruses for seasonal concerts in December.  During the spring season, the chorus rehearses repertoire for the annual Sangerfest, a song festival of all the choruses in the PCNSA, usually held in mid-June at a city along the West Coast.

History

The Everett Norwegian Male Chorus continues a Norwegian singing tradition established in the mid-1800’s when students from Bergen organized the first student quartet in Oslo, Norway. Soon, larger choruses were organized, new music was written, songbooks were compiled, and festivals (Sangerfests) of local choruses were held. The interest in male chorus singing developed quickly, with greater participation by choruses, singers, writes, and composers. In 1883, for example, Trondheim hosted 28 choruses and nearly 700 singers at a time when there was estimated to be approximately 200 choruses in Norway.

This male chorus tradition accompanied Norwegian immigrants, as they established communities in America. The first Norwegian male chorus on the West Coast was established in Portland, Oregon, in 1878. Choruses developed in Tacoma in 1888 and in Seattle in 1889. The Everett Norwegian Male Chorus was organized in 1902. These and other west coast choruses soon joined together and established the Pacific Coast Norwegian Singers Association, and its first Sangerfest was held in Everett in 1903.

For more than a century, the Everett Norwegian Male Chorus has been proud to be part of the musical and cultural tradition of northwest Washington. It helped establish Normanna Lodge, Sons of Norway in Everett in 1911, and the chorus is now the oldest continuously operating musical organization in Snohomish County. While our repertoire continues to represent the history, natural beauty, and linguistic traditions of Norway, it also includes folk songs, patriotic songs, hymns, songs from the American songbook, and other popular pieces, sung in English.